Pages

Thursday, 22 July 2010

The Squidgiest Brownies You Ever Did Taste

Last weekend saw me helping my good friend Helen out with her Big Lunch. It was a completely mammoth task, pulled off brilliantly; we figured that we'd be cooking for around 30 people, and donations flooded in left right and centre from generous producers and lovely pub people. For a full list and a video of all the shenanigans, have a look at Helen's excellent post here.

The Beast and Gilberta, ready for action

A particular item we made garnered lots of compliments and many requests for the recipe, so I thought it best I post it here. These brownies are properly squidgy; oozy, gooey centres, crisp shiny tops and studded with nuts. I spied more than two people slathering Rodda's Clotted Cream on top of them which is seriously indulgent, and seriously wonderful.

I used to post on the BBC Messageboards, which is where I got this recipe from, specifically a user called Sue_L. She was amazing for all things baked, and though this is the only brownie recipe I've tried, it's so good I haven't bothered trying any others. There's just no need. I have, of course, made a couple of teeny weeny tweaks.

Break up the chocolate and add to a bowl with the butter. Set over a bain marie, ensuring that no water gets into the bowl or you'll have a big seized mess.

Once melted, take the bowl off the heat and leave to cool for 10 mins. Add the sugar in and then the eggs, 1 at a time, beating them in well as you go. Add the vanilla extract and the sift in the flour. Sift in the cocoa and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Chop the nuts and mix them in.

Pour the mixture into a lined deep square tin or roasting dish and bake at 180 degrees C. After 40 minutes, give it a skewering to check its doneness. It should still have a little chocolate stick to the pokey but not so it's sloppy. Remove and leave to cool in the tin, and then remove and cut into squares.

These look incredible. I am definitely going to make these this weekend. My girlfriend is helping me move into my new flat and is doing at least 8 hours worth of driving... So she deserves them. Hopefully they'll turn out as well as yours did!

Well that's weird - I've just been reading about Suelle's brownies on another blog and despite being an avid reader of her blog I hadn't see this recipe until I specifically went looking for it just now. And then 5 mins later I come across this. They do look really good and I do like a squidgy brownie.

I made these brownies a while ago and they turned out burnt especially around the edges. I didn't over bake them and I used the exact ingredients and measurements. I'm wondering if it's because my oven is different. I have a electric fan-forced oven. I'm wondering what type of oven the original poster used to bake these brownies.

Hi KellyCat. Sorry to hear that. The problem with ovens is that they never run exactly the same. I used a fan assisted oven too. Were they burnt after 40 minutes? If so your oven might be running hotter than expected and you should turn the temperature down, and skewer for doneness earlier.